The President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi, warned yesterday (04) of the risk of the government not being able to pay salaries to civil servants, following the low collection of tax revenue caused by the demonstrations that are paralyzing the country..

Speaking to the rectors of national universities, Nyusi said, by way of example, that the tax collection target for the month of November had only been reached by 80%.

"I'm worried because I might not be able to pay the salaries of nurses and teachers," Nyusi warned, pointing to the weak tax collection and the lack of external support for the state budget as the causes of the alarm.

The alarm bells are ringing when, in addition to the post-election demonstrations, the country is witnessing protests by secondary school teachers who, in the midst of the final exams, are demanding the payment of overtime allowances for more than a year.

In view of the situation, political commentator Augusto Pelembe considered in a publication by the VOA that the Head of State's justification is a "fallacy", because before the demonstrations the scenario was not the best.

"I already imagined that the argument of the demonstrations could be used to justify government incompetence. If we remember, civil service salaries have been paid in phases for a few years now, so this is not a new situation, and it doesn't make sense to justify any slip-up with one or two months of demonstrations," said Augusto Pelembe.

In the same publication, economist Egas Daniel says that the impact of the ongoing demonstrations on revenue collection should not be underestimated, but points out that "public accounts had already been tight since the implementation of the Single Wage Scale (...) now, in this last quarter, with the reduction in the level of economic activity, the state is suffering directly in terms of revenue collection".

"Now, whether or not to pay civil service salaries is a matter of prioritization," says the economist. "Of the little that will be raised in the last quarter, it's up to the state to decide what is a priority."

(Photo DR)